Shawbrook Bank

Ninanoonah

A note of caution. I invested significant funds with Shawbrook on a 120 day term account in March 2020. In April I gave notice as I required funds for a house purchase. The sale and purchase are progressing much faster than anticipated and I am being pressed to complete in July. I wrote to Shawbrook Bank at the end of May requesting early release of my money, by July instead of August, in return for foregoing ALL interest. THEY REFUSED!  I explained that this was not a frivolous purchase but a significant life changing transaction and the still said NO. Beware saving with them, they have no concept of customer care or service.

cloud_dog

Ninanoonah said:

A note of caution. I invested significant funds with Shawbrook on a 120 day term account in March 2020. In April I gave notice as I required funds for a house purchase. The sale and purchase are progressing much faster than anticipated and I am being pressed to complete in July. I wrote to Shawbrook Bank at the end of May requesting early release of my money, by July instead of August, in return for foregoing ALL interest. THEY REFUSED!  I explained that this was not a frivolous purchase but a significant life changing transaction and the still said NO. Beware saving with them, they have no concept of customer care or service.

I'm sorry but I am struggling to take this seriously.  You knew and understood the terms and conditions of the account you sighed up to, and you wish to break these T&Cs, Shawbrook are adhering to the T&Cs, and have done nothing untoward or wrong and yet "they have no concept of customer care or service".

Whilst I appreciate you may find the situation frustrating I'm afraid you really cannot blame Shawbrook for this.

eskbanker

Just to be clear, this isn't a Shawbrook-specific constraint - it's pretty much standard practice for (non-ISA) fixed-term accounts not to allow early access, in that the deal is that they offer better rates than easy access products in return for the saver committing the money for the duration.

It should also be pointed out that the second paragraph at https://www.shawbrook.co.uk/direct/savings/personal-savings/fixed-term-accounts/ prominently states:

It’s important to know that you can’t withdraw money from a fixed rate bond until the end of the term - what’s called maturity. So it’s best for savers who know they won’t need the money in the meantime.

Zanderman

cloud-dog and eskbanker are quite correct.
120 day term account means what it says.
Accessible only after 120 days. 
You signed up to it.
Your 'note of caution' should read:

I invested significant funds with Shawbrook on a 120 day term account in March 2020. 

In April I required funds for a house purchase.  I cannot, of course, withdraw from the Shawbrook account until the 120 days are up.  This is annoying, but it's all my own fault.  Lesson learnt.

Don't do what I did.  Beware of fixed-term accounts if you may need to access the cash before the term is up.  Go for an easy access account instead.  Or a fixed term account that allows early redemption (usually with some small penalty) such as those offered recently by, e.g,  Marcus.

harsh_but_fair

the notice period is 120 days. You want to vary it unilaterally. Would you be upset if Shawbrook varied it unilaterally to say 240 days, citing eg market difficulties?

Bravepants

Why on Earth did you lock up your money when you were intending to buy a house!?

doe808

This has got to be a wind up.

Missus_Hyde

Ninanoonah said:

.........Beware saving with them, they have no concept of customer care or service.

I really can't agree with this comment and must post in Shawbrook's defence.

I've been saving with them for years and as well as being one of the few banks with whom I've never had any problem, I've found their customer service excellent and very helpful ( a most refreshing change these days. )

Archi_Bald

Missus_Hyde said:

Ninanoonah said:

.........Beware saving with them, they have no concept of customer care or service.

I really can't agree with this comment and must post in Shawbrook's defence.

I've been saving with them for years and as well as being one of the few banks with whom I've never had any problem, I've found their customer service excellent and very helpful ( a most refreshing change these days. )

Much like my experience with Shawbrook.

HUMBUG

There have been a glut of poor reviews on Trustpilot and worries about an 80+ % drop in profits, plus  some 'County Court Judgement ' against them for some piddly amount . 
I was going to renew my savings with them because the fixed rates were over 1% but now opted to move elsewhere , maybe to a larger bank or building society that might be able to cope with a downturn in profits for the next year . Smaller banks are now giving me the 'Heebie Jeebies'. 
I was extremely lucky to get my money back when Icebank folded many years ago (wasn't covered by FSCS ) and thank you Alistair Darling for paying back all our monies and interest (I didn't lose a penny).  I was tempted at the time by the 6% interest rates they were offering which was way above the norm , so seeing Shawbrook offer over 1.15% interest rates when there are rumours of them going negative made me think twice.

2010

HUMBUG said:

There have been a glut of poor reviews on Trustpilot and worries about an 80+ % drop in profits, plus  some 'County Court Judgement ' against them for some piddly amount . 
I was going to renew my savings with them because the fixed rates were over 1% but now opted to move elsewhere , maybe to a larger bank or building society that might be able to cope with a downturn in profits for the next year . Smaller banks are now giving me the 'Heebie Jeebies'. 
I was extremely lucky to get my money back when Icebank folded many years ago (wasn't covered by FSCS ) and thank you Alistair Darling for paying back all our monies and interest (I didn't lose a penny).  I was tempted at the time by the 6% interest rates they were offering which was way above the norm , so seeing Shawbrook offer over 1.15% interest rates when there are rumours of them going negative made me think twice.

Think you`ll find you are covered with Shawbrook by the FSCS for £85k 
https://www.fscs.org.uk/
I can`t see where Shawbrook are currently offering 1.15%, maybe you could provide a link.